Capacity … This word has been common in my thoughts and discussions recently. What is capacity? Per Dictionary.com, capacity is:

1. the ability to receive or contain: (EX: This hotel has a large capacity.)

2. the maximum amount or number that can be received or contained; cubic contents; volume: (EX: The inn is filled to capacity. The gasoline tank has a capacity of 20 gallons.)

3. power of receiving impressions, knowledge, etc.; mental ability: (EX: The capacity to learn calculus.)

4. actual or potential ability to perform, yield, or withstand: (EX: He has a capacity for hard work. The capacity of the oil well was 150 barrels a day. She has the capacity to go two days without sleep.**)

5. quality or state of being susceptible to a given treatment or action: (EX: Steel has a high capacity to withstand pressure.)

I have highlighted #4 because that definition most closely fits how I have been thinking and speaking about capacity. As we look at various opportunities and challenges in our APM, we must ask ourselves two questions:

1. Do we have the potential ability to do something with excellence (safety + quality + competitiveness)?

2. Do we have the right people, both in amount and competency, to do something?

It is this second question that has me thinking the most. Two examples:

Example 1: Our Services Data team and our HR team has worked with our Operations team to analyze the capacity of our Operations Division Leaders to execute all the standard work that is expected to manage a job for successful execution. We know that during peak, the capacity will be strained. What is of real concern today is that capacity strain is extending longer, not allowing for recovery before the next strain, thus increasing our risk of safety and quality events. We have taken specific actions in an attempt to alleviate this capacity strain (ex: the business calendar with blackout periods that reduce work expectations during peak). We have other actions teed up, including further refinement of AirTime tools to decrease the time it takes to do standard work and also adding capacity via our variable resource model to take over some of the standard work.

Example 2: In our Chief & Leadership meeting last week, one of our commitments was focused on the risk of not having the right people and the right data in our room in order to make a decision. This ultimately was a capacity challenge, more specifically a competency challenge. Our commitment was if we got to an agenda topic and determined we did not understand the problem, didn’t have the right info, or didn’t have any recommendations, we deployed one of our most valuable HOP tools = STOP! and get the right people and right data in the room before moving forward. When you don’t have the right people or the right tools (data is a tool) to do a task with excellence, we STOP! That’s true in every setting – whether you are in a senior leadership meeting or on a turbine deck.

In an ever changing world with new challenges and opportunities arising almost daily, our willingness to challenge our capacity to do something excellently will be key.

• Sometimes the answer will be “YES!”

• Sometimes the answer will be “YES, if we do XXX.”

• Sometimes the answer will be “NO”.

• Sometimes the answer will be “STOP! – let’s get the right people and the right tools before we move forward.”

**I intentionally struck through the above sentence: “She has the capacity to go two days without sleep.” It may be true that a human can go 48 hours without sleep, but we know that a human going 48 hours straight is at increased risk of human error and injury. In fact, studies show “being awake for at least 24 hours is equal to having a blood alcohol content of 0.10%. This is higher than the legal limit (0.08% BAC) in all states.”

Let’s be realistic about our capacity. Hold yourself, your team, and your leaders accountable to STOP when it’s appropriate. We can all help each other embrace this more and advocate for excellence.

— Jake